The free-agent signing period in the NBA won't officially start until Wednesday, July 11, but some deals have already reportedly been made and are just waiting for the ink on the contract:

Seattle forward Rashard Lewis, who averaged a career-best 22.4 ppg last year, has agreed in principle to a five-year, maximum deal with the Orlando Magic. Word is that he was eager to move out of the dominant Western Conference into the East, where seemingly any team can make it to the Finals in any given year, and he also wants to complement Dwight Howard.

And on the subject of the Magic, Grant Hill is on his way out after what can only fairly be called a disappointing seven years with the franchise through no fault of his own. If he'd only gotten a couple more healthy seasons under his belt, especially when the Magic had Tracy McGrady, there's no telling what they might have accomplished. As it is, Hill-- one of the truly classy ambassadors of the game, and an All-Star when healthy-- will reportedly sign a two-year deal with the Phoenix Suns. Great move for him, I think.

The Magic have pulled their qualifying offer to forward/center Darko Milicic, making him an unrestricted free agent, pissing off his agent and making it unlikely he'll return to Orlando. Heh, I know he got unfairly benched in Detroit for a few years, but you know it's gonna be a weird postseason when suddenly freakin' Darko Milicic is the hottest free agent on the market.

Heat guard Jason Kapono, who won a championship with the team in 2006, will sign a four-year, $24 million deal with the up-and-coming Toronto Raptors, who won their first division title last year.

As far as teams keeping their current players:

--Vince Carter will stick with the New Jersey Nets after agreeing to sign a four-year, $61.8 million contract with a team option for the fifth year.

--Luke Walton has reportedly agreed to a six-year, $30 million deal to stay with the Lakers.

--Chauncey Billups will apparently stay with the Detroit Pistons, with whom he won the NBA Championship and the Finals MVP award in 2004. Five years, $60 million for him.

--Andres Nocioni will stay in a Chicago Bulls uniform, having agreed to a contract worth around $38 million according to the Chicago Tribune.

--Jerry Stackhouse will remain with the Dallas Mavericks as their sixth man. The report says he's getting paid "more than the mid-level exception of around $6 million", which seems to imply a little more, but it's a little oddly-worded.

--Bobcats guard Matt Carroll will sign a six-year, $27 million contract to stay in Charlotte, apparently.

So... anyone else got any updates? Or teams you wanna root for to get or lose a certain guy?

Wow...I thought a week would give Otis Smith enough time to come to his senses, but he actually went and traded for Rashard Lewis and signed him to a MAX DEAL! Rashard Lewis is now getting a Kobe Bryant-level salary. Rashard Lewis is no Kobe Bryant. Hell, Rashard Lewis isn't even a Raja Bell. Good lord, he won't even be the best player on the team! How do they have ANY hope to re-sign Dwight Howard when his contract is up? Jeezum crow, this is easily the NBA's worst move of the offseason. Congrats to Otis Smith for already managing to outdo Mitch Kupchak, Danny Ainge, Kevin McHale, and Isiah Thomas on the very first day of free agency. That takes serious talent.

And speaking of serious talent, Darko is now a Memphis Grizzly, because truly, he could fall no further. Darko can take solace in knowing that he could very well be The Man soon if Pau Gasol gets dealt in the offseason.

The Wisdom of Homsar:DaAaAa, these Easter pants are gettin' way too tight!

Pretty much the big news of the last couple days doesn't even concern a free-agent signing or re-signing, but the Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to a buyout of the remaining two years of Steve Francis's contract. Francis and Channing Frye had been traded by the Knicks to Portland in exchange for Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau and Fred Jones. The buyout means that Francis has become an unrestricted free agent, and no doubt some team desperate for a point guard will overpay him dramatically to screw up their team.

Good move by Portland, I think. They're building a good young team, and the last thing they need is to have to deal with Stevie Franchise's bullshit.

RE-SIGNINGS

Gerald Wallace has agreed in principle to a six-year deal that'll keep him with the Charlotte Bobcats.